Cancer stem cells are an underlying cause of tumor recurrence and
metastasis. The majority of cancer drugs, while killing the bulk of
tumor cells, ultimately fail to induce durable clinical responses
because these cells develop a resistance to treatment over time. A
reason for this acquired resistance may be the presence of small
minority of cells in the tumor called cancer stem cells (CSC). These
CSCs are often resistant to existing cancer therapies including targeted
drugs, chemo- and radiation therapy.
The ability of CSCs to move to other sites in the body, combined with the
capability to initiate a new tumor mass, may implicate CSCs as an
important factor in the formation of metastases. Metastatic tumor sites
are the cause of death in more than 90% of human cancer patients. Cancer
stems cells have been found in many types of tumors, including
leukemia, myeloma, breast, prostate, colon, brain, lung and other cancer.
In order to develop truly effective treatments that can create a durable
clinical response it is important to develop drugs that can target and
kill CSCs. A major factor that has prevented the discovery of drugs
targeting CSCs is that isolated CSCs rapidly differentiate in culture,
yielding the non-CSCs that represent the majority of cells in tumors.
Reference
1. http://www.verastem.com/research/
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